Screwed Up
by Ardin
Summary: Seattle Grace has seen its share of troubled doctors: Meredith informs Owen that he is not the only one to be dark and twisty. Owen-centric, but with all characters mentioned.


**Screwed Up** By Ardin

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of it. I know that isn't a terrifically witty or original disclaimer statement, but it has the fortunate characteristic of being the truth.

**Spoilers: **ANY AND ALL EPS WERE FAIR GAME FOR THIS SO…YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

**A/N: **I don't normally write Grey's Anatomy fanfic (especially since I have other stories that definitely need to be updated), but throughout "Elevator Love Letter" I couldn't help but feel that Meredith was being a little hypocritical about Owen's problems considering all of the issues that everyone else has, especially Meredith. So I wrote this. And **I know** that it is pretty darn AU, but I really wish that something like this would happen because I love the Owen character and I don't think his issues should outweigh everyone else's.

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Owen couldn't believe that he had been called into this meeting by Meredith of all people. She seemed to be the person at Seattle Grace least likely to want anything to do with him, especially after his recent issues with Christina, but he had shown up to OR 2 anyways with the hopes that he could possibly get on her good side. Assuming she had one, which he wasn't sure of. Only slightly easier to believe was that he wasn't the only one to receive summons.

Shortly after he had arrived, the rest of the staff that made up SGH's surgical clique trickled in. Meredith was the last to enter and, after closing the doors and confirming that there was no one in the observation gallery, she began to speak, addressing him directly.

"For several months you have worked alongside us in the halls and ORs of this hospital. You've done good work and convinced all of us that you belong here, but…" she paused and glared at him briefly, apparently aware that he had been about to speak and silently warning him to stay silent. "You have made a great effort to keep yourself at a distance from most of us. Now I don't know if that is because you don't like us…well the majority of us anyways," she shot a meaningful look at Christina, "or because you believe that you are too screwed up inside to deserve the camaraderie and friendship that the rest of us share, but if it is the latter than I have news for you."

She paused to give weight to her next words. When she continued her tone had transformed from one of harsh reprimand to one of matter-of-fact understanding.

"We are all a little screwed up inside. And most of us don't have the excuse that you do. You survived a war. And, yes, you came back a bit broken; a little less you. But around here that doesn't really make you all that special." Meredith paused and sighed, glancing briefly over her shoulder at the group standing uncomfortably behind her. With a smile she turned back to Owen.

"It took me awhile to see it with you, maybe because I didn't want to or because I was so caught up in the rest of our drama that…but you are no more," she chuckled grimly, "or less screwed up than the rest of us."

Owen opened his mouth to argue, but Meredith cut him off with a firm glare and continued speaking, "I know that you have done your best to avoid the gossip that runs rampant around this hospital, but it is time you found out just what sort of insane asylum you are working in."

"I grew up with a mother who saw me as her greatest failure in life and, in a fit of extreme irony, I followed her into the career that came so close to destroying her. Additionally, what was supposed to be a pointless one-night stand turned into the great love of my life." She turned to smile briefly at Derek and gestured vaguely towards him as she continued speaking.

"Said great love recently got in a fist fight with his best friend, which you knew, but this is not the first time this has happened. Derek hit Sloan when he first arrived in Seattle because Sloan slept with his now ex-wife." Owen stared at Sloan and Derek, who stood next to each other, with a new understanding. He'd heard rumors of the trials they'd been through, but had had no idea… Meredith continued.

"Sloan is now sleeping with his best friend's fiancé's younger half sister. Enough said." She rolled her eyes and continued down the line. "Lexie is the half sister I didn't know existed until a year ago. Her mother died, in this hospital, from the hiccups. And about a year ago, at a time when we couldn't stand each other, she spent several weeks having sex with one of my housemates."

"Said housemate, Alex, has been through nearly as many women in this hospital as Dr. Sloan and is currently, as you know, in love with a woman with late stage cancer. We won't even go into the whole Ava/Rebecca thing." Owen glanced curiously past Meredith at Shepard who merely shook his head slightly, apparently in agreement with her to leave the subject alone.

"Izzy," Meredith pointed at the ceiling, in the general direction of Izzy's room in Oncology, "is a former underwear model who fell in love with a patient who later died and left her eight and a half million dollars." Owen's eyes widened in shock, but he stayed silent, overwhelmed by the information that he was receiving. "She went on to have an affair with a married man." Owen's gaze moved to the others in the room and he smiled slightly when George sheepishly raised his hand in admission.

"George married Dr. Torres, who is now a lesbian, after having known her for less than a year. That was immediately after his father's death in this hospital, but before his brief affair with Izzy and failing his intern exam."

"Christina…" Meredith paused for a moment, looking decidedly uncomfortable, and glanced back at her person. Yang's quick nod reassured her and she turned back to him, "Christina was left at the altar by a man who wouldn't even have a career today if it weren't for her." She left it there, unwilling to get into her own personal battles with her best friend.

She paused for several moments, allowing her words to sink in with Owen, who looked decidedly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information he was being handed. She smiled slightly at his expression, more than a little surprised that he'd been at SGH for this long and didn't appear to have already heard most of gossip she was now dispensing. With a grin she reached over, gripped his shoulder and continued in a gentler tone then she had thus far managed.

"And all of that is just droplets in the sea of screwed up you have found yourself in. We won't even talk about the cutting interns, the Chief's years-long affair with my mother, or Derek's ex-wife sleeping with Alex. We are all dark and twisty inside, but I was recently reminded that that isn't necessarily a bad thing." She glanced over her shoulder at Derek. "It's all about how you use the darkness that makes a difference. You can't let it keep you from the things that matter."

"So, as I said earlier, we are all a little screwed up inside. Welcome to Seattle Grace." With that she spun and strode from the room, the others following her out without a word, but with many a grin and shrug thrown his way.

When the room was clear of everyone but him, Owen sat down with a sigh and smiled before speaking softly to the room, "Welcome to Seattle Grace indeed."

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**Thank you for reading. Reviews are appreciated.**


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